Raise your hand if you are a mess right now? Raise your hand if you know or think the world is a mess right now? If you watch the news, then you know that it is.
We are a hot mess right now. Everyone. There are no exemptions. I wish I could truthfully say I’m not, but, I still find myself reeling from the effects of this thing called life with a pandemic sitting across the booth from me, waiting for me to let my guard down. I’ve been on high alert for a while.
The devastation of it all. We are in the midst of personal meltdowns and we have no validation for where we are. We cannot articulate any viable reason for the state we are in. It’s tough and we are struggling.
When this mess of a pandemic first arrived and shut the world down, my oldest son, came packed me up and moved me into their house. We of course had no idea it would last as long as it has and I finally said after 2 weeks, I think it’s time to go home. As all 4 of us stayed together (my son and his wife and my younger son as well.), we looked at all the angles, and after promising to be careful, I went home.
I am a writer, and I’m not sure what happened during this time period, but I couldn’t write at all. I couldn’t even journal. I couldn’t read. It was brain fog like I was going through menopause again. I was a mess. I didn’t want to do much for the fear of getting sick. I hung out with my kids and my very close friends. I trusted them because I knew they were being careful.
Lots of messes have happened in these two years. Dear friends lost their marriages. My sister lost her first grandbaby at 3 months old. Devastating. I’ve lost 2 grandbabies to miscarriage. Some friend’s lost loved ones to this pandemic. Lost jobs, lost opportunities, and lost identities, fueled anxiety, fear, and loads of grief. This was the biggest mess of my life!
I finally began digging out in October of 2021. I began writing again and it was music to my soul and breath to my lungs.
As I was writing one day, I remembered Ephesians 2.10, “For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.”
Masterpieces. Wow! We aren’t the mess we think we are. We are the masterpiece in the mess. This puts a whole new spin on things.
So in this mess, we do the things that masterpieces do:
We show the world how to stand in the mess so that our grandchildren and their grandchildren know how to stand.
We continue to influence generations and change the way people look at the medium -Jesus. We are not judgemental and condemning.
We are so original that once you've seen us, you're indelibly influenced by our love.
A masterpiece defines a whole set of cultural values and is brilliantly above reproach.
We are the masterpieces created by God to influence the world in a loving, non-judgemental way.
Masterpieces stand the test of time. They endure because the artist's skill, subject matter, and craftsmanship are going to endure through the latest fad. Let me remind you: we are not a fad. Masterpieces speak to every generation and, our mission is to show the world the artist who created us.
The woman at the well is a clear example for me. Jesus could and had the right to condemn her, judge her, and tell her off. He didn’t. He spoke the truth in love to her and she realized then she was a masterpiece. She brought the rest of the town to him and her story is still being the masterpiece it is!
You are a masterpiece, even if you feel a little messy right now. You are a masterpiece, even if your life has not gone as planned and is currently spinning out of control. You are a masterpiece, even if you are struggling with your mental health. You are a masterpiece even if you’ve lost your job and are wondering what’s next.
As messes, we tend to over-control things. Trying to control everything around us(our jobs, relationships, children, and God). This is typical and apparent. We become an overnight sensation in the insecurity of it all. We fight to get what we want and believe our way is the only right way.
Just stop.
The only way out of this messiness is to pause and learn to slow down.
Try these things and see if it helps:
Control the easy things. Like the laundry, cleaning the kitchen, and making your bed every day. This removes overwhelmedness.
Listen. This is a learned trait. We tend to create a mess because we don’t listen. Learn to hear what is not being said.
Rest. Do whatever is best for you. Don’t apologize for it and don’t come up with excuses to avoid it.
Cry. This is one of the biggest releases you will ever do. To this day, my children make fun of me because I cry over the craziest things.
Laugh. I love this more than anything! Sarcastic, dry humor, that makes me laugh until I can’t breathe.
These things help with reminding ourselves we are real, breathing, moving people. I can’t guarantee this will make us less of a mess but it will remove the stigma of being a hot mess.
The world is always going to be a mess, but we don’t have to be. Right now, even in the middle of the biggest mess of our lives, we are still the masterpiece! We just have to remember what masterpieces do. Be that. It is what you are created for.
The day we stop being a mess, is the day we reach full masterpiece certification. No matter, remember who created you, why you were created, and as my boys would say, “Stop listening to the haters”, they don’t really know about you.